Wire-covering machine.



F. S. RANDALL. WIRE COVERING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR.28,1911.kmmwnn APR. 12,1912.

1,045,183, Patented Nov. 26 1912.

4 SHEETSSHEET l.

F. S. RANDALL. WIRE COVERING MACHINE. APPLIQATION IILBD APILZB, 1911.RENEWED APR. 12, 1912.

Patented Nov. 26, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lllllllllw murmm. 1|."

vwc nfoz fwifcweooeo F. S. RANDALL.

WIRE COVERING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED umzs, 1911. RENEWED APR. 12,1912.

1,045,183. Patented Nov. 26, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

F. S. RANDALL. WIRE COVERING MACHINE. FILED APR.28, 1911. RENEWED APR.12, 1912.

1,045, 1 83. Patented Nov. 26, 1912.

- APPLICATION wi in eooco:

m t It spawns P nrn T @FIFIEE.

FRANKLIN S. RANDALL, OF JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TOPEER- LESS INSULATED WIRE AND CABLE COMPANY,

TION OF DELAWARE.

on NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORPORA- WIRE-COVERING MACHINE.

' Patented Nov. 26, 1912.

Application filed April 28, 1911, Serial No. 623,954. Renewed April 12,1912. Serial No. 690,335.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for covering.electrical conducting wires with insulating material.

My machine while adapted to cover or coat wires of this class so as toadapt the wires for any work whether inside or outside, is especiallyadapted to provide covering which will resist the action of the weatherand make the wires suitable for out-door work.

My machine is intended to economically and rapidly cover wires of theclass specified in such a manner as to make them better than'ordinaryinsulated wires, and at the same time provide means for doing the workso rapidly and economically that the Wires will not be expensive. It hasbeen found desirable to cover wires of this class with a fabric,especially if the fabric can be laid on in even layers and then immersethe fiber or fabric in a solution which will be absorbed by the fabricand will make the coating impervious to moisture and suitably insulated.For this purpose raw cotton generally applied in the form of sliver, orother light fibers are especially desirable, but a difficulty has beento apply the fibrous material in such a way that it will lie perfectlyeven, be compact, and will not be blown away or disturbed by aircurrents in the process of manufacturing.

In carrying out my invention I provide means for feeding the wirelongitudinally through the machine, and I rotate the means for supplyingfiber, preferably in the form of cotton, to the wire, which meansrotates around the wire, and further I provide wind guards and guideswhich will carry the fiber from the container to the wire so that itwill not be disturbed by the action of the air while being carriedaround the wire, but will be laid on in a suant coating, next I providemeans for combing the material with card clothing or its equivalent sothat the fiber is compactly and suantly applied to the wire, and finallyI bind the fibrous material in place by means of spirally wound cords,although the latter feature can be' dispensed with, and after theseoperations are accomplished the wire and its covering are adapted forimmersion in any suitable composition. I

In general, my invention has for its object the carrying out of theaforesaid process in a convenient, practical and inexpensive way.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar reference characters indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a side elevation of the machine embodying my invention.Fig.2 is an elevation at right angles to that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa plan of the apparatus. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional viewshowing especially the means for guiding the fibrous material to thewire and for combing the material about-the wire. Fig. 5 is a detail.section on the line 55 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail on the line 6-6 ofFig. 4: of the guide chute and wind guard, and Fig. 7 is a top view ofthe end of the guide chute and wlnd guard showing extension and comb.

The machine is provided with a suitable frame 10 which may be of anyapproved design, and it has preferably cross braces 11 which serve assupports for the turn-table which comprises essentially the lower andupper rings 12 and 18 which are connected by the bracing and spacingrods 14: and are also braced by the radial ribs 12 and 13. Theturn-table is provided with a hollow hub or support 15 which is mountedin suitable bearings and to one end of which is applied the drivingpulley 16 or its equivalent. The turn-table carries containers 17 forthe raw cotton or other fibrous material, which containers are open atthe top and which revolve around the wire 18 so that as hereinaftershown, the fiber will be spirally wound around the wire as the latterprogresses through the machine. The wire 18 passes over a suitable guidepulley 20 in a bath 19, the latter containing any suitable compositionwhich will coat the wire and make it sticky, and the wire passesvertically upward through the machine and over the guide pulley 21 whichis carried by the shaft 22, the latter being supported in hangers 23 onthe top of the machine.

' of effectin .After passing over the guide pulley 21, the wire is woundon a reel 24, but the latter has. nothing to do with the invention andthe wire can be carried forward through any bath if preferred. The abovemechanism is not claimed broadly as new, and on the other hand, anyequivalent means'can be provided for feeding the wire and the fibersupply, and for spirally applying the fiber, without affecting theinvention. The reel 24 is carried by a shaft 25, and the means forrotating the shaft and for driving the machinery generally, will behereinafter described.

The fiber, preferably in the form of cotton sliver, is drawn from thetops of the containers 17, and as these revolve around the wire 18 andas the latter is moved longitudinally, it will be seen that the fiberwill be laid in spiral overlapping layers upon the wire, but as thefiber is very light, any wind which may blow across the machine, 01' theair currents generated by the rotation of the containers are likely todisplace and break the fiber, and this heretofore has been a mostserious obstacle in the way of carrying out the covering of wire on thelines which I disclose. To obviate this dilficulty I'use the wind guardsand stock guides 26 which are hollow as shown clearly in Figs. 4 and 6,and are sufficiently large to permit the sliver or fiber 27 to passfreely through them. These guardsand guides 26 extend close up to thewire18 as the drawing shows, and also extend to the top openings of thecontainers. It is desirable to have them adjustable, and Ishow aconvenient means this adjustment without however, limiting myself tosuch means. As illustrated the guides or guards 26 are held inbifurcated clips 27 which are fastened by means of suitable bolts andnuts shown at 28 to a cross-piece 29, and the latter is held by a bolt29 to the hangers 30 which depend from the top 13 of the turn-table. Itwill be seen therefore, that by adjusting the bolts and nuts justreferred to, the guards 26 can be arranged at the desired angle andsecurely fastened.

As the fiber 27 if wound upon the wire 18 without any pressure, may beloose and bulging, I provide extensions to the guides 26 as shown at 26in Fig. 7 These extensions 26* carry combs in the form of card clothing26*, and are adapted to press against the fiber as it is wound upon. thewire. As the amount of pressure may be regulated, this enables me towind the fiber upon the wire with any desired firmnem. It is understoodthat the combs 26 may be omitted and the extension 26 of the wind guardmay be pressed against the fiber and wire, but I prefer to use the combs26 After the fiber 27 is applied to the wire 18, in order to remove anyunevenness or bulging I cause it to pass through a suitable H taperingcomb so that it will be evenly felted and matted around the wire, andthis comb is most effectively made of card clothing 31, and in two'partswhich can be con"- veniently clamped around the wire. I have shown thecard clothing held in opposite parts of the framework or housing 32,which housing has flanges 33 held by bolts 34to the hanger 35 which issecured to the top 13 of the turn-table as shown in Fig. 4. Reference tothis samelfigure will show that'the effect of revolving the cardclothing on the covered wire is to. cause the sliver or fiber 27 to bedrawn evenly and snugly .felted and matted around the Wire. In this sameview it will be seen how the wire and its covering is permitted to passupward through the top of the turn-table and its bearings, andtheturn-table has a hub 13 at the top which rotates in the bearing 10 ofthe machine frame.

The combing of the fiber around the wire will be sufiicient to hold itin place-until it is dipped, under usual conditions, but to make thisabsolutely certain I prefer to bind the fiber in place with strands oftwine or equivalent, and to' this end I show at the top of the hub 13*atable or plate 36 which carv ries spindles 87 on which are held thetwine spools 38, and the twine from these spools may be fastened to thecovered wire so that as the latter moves, the twine will be carriedaround with the turn-table 12-13 and the wire fiber or covering bound inplace. 4

I have described the manner in which the apparatus operates, and I willnow refer to will be securely the means disclosed for driving theopera-' tive parts, but it will be understood that any suitable drivingmechanism can be substituted for that shown. A driving shaft 39 (seeFig. 1) is provided with tight and loose pulleys 40 or equivalentmechanism, and is mounted on posts 41. The driving shaft connects bygears 42 and 43 with a shaft 44 on the side of the machine, which shaftis vertically arranged, and has a pulley 45 which alines with the pulley46 on the hub of the turn-table 12-13, so that by means of a suitablebelt the turn-table and the containers 17 maybe rotated. At its upperend the shaft 44 connects by gears 47 and 48 with a counter-shaft 49,which is mounted in suitable brackets 50, and the shaft 49 connects bymeans of gears 51, 52 and 53 with the gear wheel 54 on the shaft 22already referred to, so that the latter is suitably driven to carrythewire 18 and to rotate the reel 24, as will be presently seen. I preferto have one of the intermediate gears just referred to, as for instancethe gear 53, mounted on a'lever 55, which is centrally fulcrumed andwhich moves opposite the slotted segment 56 to which it can be fastenedby means of nuts and bolts,

"connects by gears 61 and 62 with the reel shaft 65.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided acomparatively simple machine for feeding and covering the wire withfiber, and more especially that I provide means for feeding the loosefiber spirally to the wire, for preventing any deflection of the fiberby wind or air currents, and that finally I provide a convenient meansfor combing the fiber so as to obtain a compact, suant layer on thewire.

It will be readily understood that in this condition the wire is adaptedto be immersed in a weather-proofing composition .so as to make ithighlyi'risulating and ca- L pable of great wear and long use.

I do not wish to limit myself to the manner shown for supportingthemeans for applying pressure to the fiber while it is being wound uponthe wire." It is apparent that this means instead of being supportedupon the end of the fiber chutes may be held against the wire in anyother desired way without departing from the principle of my invention,as I claim broadly means for applying pressure to the fiber against thewire while the former is being wound upon the latter.

It will be seen th t I have disclosed a means for applying fi r such ascotton'sliver in a suant layer to the wire, that as the wire travelslongitudinally and the fiber guides revolve around it, the fiber will bewound fiber and absolutely prevents any unevenness. It will also benoticed that the fiber is guarded thoroughly against any deflection bywind currents, and that it is sure to lie evenly and snugly upon thewire.

I claim p 1. A wire covering machine comprising means for feeding a wirelongitudinally, means for winding fibrous material upon the wire, fiberguides and wind guards extending from a source of supply to a point nearthe wire, and a comb arranged near the ends of the guides to mat thefiber around the wire.

2. A wire covering machine comprising '3. A wire covering machinecomprising means for feeding a wire longitudinally, a rotatable fibersupply moving around the wire, wind guards adapted to carry the fiberfrom the source of supply to the wire, means located near the ends ofthe wind guards to mat the fiber thereon, and a comb encircling the wireand adapted to give an additional matting or combing effect to thefiber.

4:- A wire covering machine comprising means. for feeding a wirelongitudinally, a rotatable fiber supply moving around the wire, a fiberguide for each strand of fiber extending from the source of supply tothe wire, Wind guards supported on the guides and overlapping the wire,and means carried by the wind guards and overlapping the wire to pressor mat the fiber upon the wire. I

5. A wire covering machine comprising means for feeding a wirelongitudinally, a rotatable fiber supply moving around the wire, a fiberguide extending from the source of supply to the wire, means carried by,the guide for feeding the fiber against the wire as the fiber is woundthereon, and a comb encircling the wire and arranged to comb or mat thefiber thereon.

g V FRANKLIN s. RANDALL- Witnesses:

ARTHUR G. DANNELL, HENRY G. MADDEN.

